Your Time, His Time, What Time is It?
by PenDrop
Summary: This is a spin-off of the 'other' ending, when he gets to keep the Hollow Pen. Ethan is set up onto another mystery, but this time, he gets help from a mysterious pen user named 'Helper'. Who is it and why are they helping him?
1. Chapter 1

Your Time, His Time, What Time is It?

1: The Hero's day Off

Ethan Kairos stood outside his house, and breathed in a mouthful of air. 'Today's going to be great!' he thought. He smiled to himself and went on his merry way to the café all of his friends would go to, Chronos. The sun was shining with a golden hue and the sky didn't have a cloud in the sky. "It's days like this that I'm thankful…" he said to himself. 'Thankful that I remembered about all that stuff that happened to my parents and all of my friends so I could prevent it.' He heard someone call in the distance, but he didn't answer. 'And now I get to keep the hollow pen, and this old…or shall I say new life?' He reached into his shirt pocket and took out the familiar green pen that he'd only hold a few times. Suddenly, Ethan felt a push from behind and struggled to retain his balance.

"Yo, Eeth!" shouted his best friend, Vin. "You gotta stop spacing out like that!"

"M-My bad," he apologized.

"Don't apologize, man. Just keep it in mind."

"Yeah." They walked further to Chronos, gathering each friend on the way. Ben was as eager to get there as ever, and Morris was studying a little blue book. "Uh, Morris. It's summer. Why are you studying?"

"Do you have to ask?" he replied. Ethan shrugged to himself.

'Guess not.' In a matter of minutes, they reached Chronos. As they entered, Olivia greeted them, and they sat at their usual table. A man in a brown jacket and combed-back hair walked towards them.

"Hey, kid," he greeted Ethan.

"Hey, Uncle Derek." Derek laid out four cups of coffee and a few crepes.

"You guys gonna stay here awhile? I've got a story to tell you."

"It better not be one of those stories about you cutting school again, is it?" Ben asked. Derek chuckled at him.

"No, no. This one is important." Ethan stared at his uncle's face, and knew he was serious.

"What is it about?" he asked. The storekeeper sighed and began.

"Well, me and Kori want you guys to know that you're friend, Emily, is…well, dead."

"What!?" yelled a girl's voice. They all turned to the front door. Ashley, Vin's little sister stood there in amazement. "Are you serious!?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Yes. A man in grey attacked her here last night. I tried to save her, but when I ran out, it was already too late…" Derek bowed his head in regret. The gears in Ethan's head began to turn.

"This can't be!" Vin shouted.

"When was it?" Ethan asked his uncle.

"Um…about 9:13," he answered. "It was around the bac-." Ethan left his seat and ran out the door.

'9:13, around the back, last night,' he reviewed. 'I've got to save Emily. But…' He slowed down as he hit the corner. 'What can I do? I could put something in the murderer's way, and that'll slow him down. Giving enough time for Uncle Derek to get to him. But can he stop him? Or will it cause another casualty. Maybe, I could take the weapon away. Or…if I have to, I'll drag Emily through the hole.' He took a deep breath and placed his hand on his shirt. "Only one way to find out!" He grabbed the pen and was about to draw a circle when it struck him. The hollow pen wasn't glowing at all. Time didn't stop, and the grey that came with it wasn't there. 'Wait, I don't have any flashbacks about this place. That is, I don't remember anything about it.' His hand slowly lowered and he stared at the ground. A few minutes passed before he put the pen back into his shirt pocket. He sat on a bench and slammed his foot into the ground. "Damnit!"

"Ethan!" his uncle called. "You out here?" He heard his uncle's footsteps come closer to him. He waited til he heard them reach him. But the noise stopped suddenly.

'Did he stop?' He looked up, and gasped. Everything was grey. His uncle was right at the corner, but was frozen in time. "What the…?" The sound of a time hole rang his ears. He turned around and saw exactly what he heard. A hole was hovering over the ground, and a hand was protruding from it. The hand let go a note and went back. Ethan hurried over to see who dropped it, but the hole was closed before he could. All Ethan grabbed was air. He sighed to himself.

"Yo, kid. What are you doing here?" Derek asked, not back in motion.

"Nothing…"

"Well, c'mon. You're coffee's getting cold." His uncle went back into the café. Ethan stood up, and stepped on the note.

"Oh!" He bent down and picked it up. He read it to himself. '7:30 p.m., in the mailbox. Leave a note for you-know-who.-Helper'. 'What the heck is this?' he thought. Suddenly, everything started to fade out.


	2. Chapter 2

2: Problem solved?

The flashbacks that came this time weren't out of the ordinary. The first was set at a house that he didn't recognize. It was a regular, old house that you would pass by every day. The second was his house. Two people he'd never seen before was standing in front of it. The one on the left was a boy, and on the right, a girl. It seemed to him that the boy was confessing to her. 'What does that have to do with the situation?' The flashbacks ended and he was back in his time. "My…room this time?" he asked himself, looking around. It was indeed his room. The morning sun shined through his window, and Sox was lying lazily in it. He gently kicked the cat. "C'mon, Sox. Get up already." The cat yawned and opened his eyes.

"Meow," he replied.

"Don't give me that. Get off the carpet, or I'll step on you…"

"Ethan!" his mother called. "Breakfast is ready!"He walked down the stairs, with his mind busily buzzing.

'Today's the day after I went to Chronos with Vin and them. But what changed? What made me get those flashbacks?' He sat in his usual spot at the table and looked at their breakfast. There were eggs, toast, and salad on the table. 'Salad? Really Mom?' He tried the eggs first. 'No salt!' Then the toast. 'Burnt!' And finally the salad. 'And no flavor!' Ethan took the syrup and spread it all over his food.

"Ethan! You're going to get a stomachache like that!"

'Beats eating another bland breakfast…' Ethan finished it a little slower than planned, and left the house. "I'm going to meet up with my friends to talk about the summer trip!"

"Come back before 4!" He went onto the sidewalk and felt a sudden cramp in his stomach.

'Crap! I guess syrup isn't the best way to make things better…' With a hand over his belly, Ethan walked to the library.

Sara the librarian was on her computer, skimming through the brochures for a get-away trip. Ethan barged in, feeling sick and weary. "Can I help you?" she asked him, noticing his condition.

"N-No, I'm alright…" He spotted his group sitting on a table next to the children's section of books. "H-Hey, guys," he said when he reached them.

"Oh, hey Eeth. You don't look too good," Vin greeted.

"Just ate something bad this morning. Where's Dora?"

"Your cousin?" Ashley asked. "She couldn't make it. Her dad thought it was dangerous to walk out of the café."

"Oh." His eyes shifted to a girl he was unfamiliar with. She had long dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and her blue eyes sparkled with excitement. "Who is she?"

"She's coming with us to the camping trip," she explained. "She moved in the neighborhood yesterday, and she's a great person!"

"Hello," she said pleasantly.

"Hello," Ethan repeated. 'Where have I seen her before?' He looked at her closer.

"Uh… Is your friend ok?" she asked Ashley, leaning backwards.

"Ethan! Stop it!" she shouted.

'She's from my flashback! She's the girl that was being confessed to!'

"Um…Ethan, was it? Can you please back off?"

"Hmm?" He suddenly became aware that he was too close for comfort. "Oh, yeah! Sorry…"

"I-It's ok." The stomachache came right after.

"I-I'll be right back!" He ran to the bathrooms for relief and safety.

"Man, that guy," Vin said.

"I've got to use the bathroom too," the embarrassed girl announced. She followed Ethan, making sure that there was a suitable distance between them.

After about 30 minutes, Ethan left the boys' bathroom. 'Whew. The stomachache is gone!' He turned to walk back to his friends and noticed the girl from his flashback waiting for him at the exit. "Hey…"

"Oh, hey," she said. He walked next to her and checked one more time.

'She's definitely from my flashback. Is she the reason that I saw the other flashback? Does her existence create this time? And how does it change from the other time? But…maybe I'm thinking too much.'

"Hello? Ethan?"

"Yes?" he asked subconsciously.

"Is Ashley ok? She seems kind of sad."

"Oh. Well, recently, she lost a good friend. She was murdered by someone, and now she's really sad."

"Oh, I see."

"But, I think that you're helping her cope with it. Please keep on being a good friend with Ashley. She needs it."

"Was her friend's name Emily?" Ethan gasped.

"How do you know that name?"

"Ashley keeps on mumbling it. She seemed to be obsessed with that name."

'Oh… I thought she knew something about all this. I guess I was wrong…'

"She was saying things like 'If only she stayed at home. Or if she got a letter to meet someone somewhere else, then she wouldn't have died."

"Yeah, but that's too convenient."

"If I had the power to turn back time, I would find this Emily and tell her to go somewhere else."

"Yep."

"Well, bye." She left Ethan and went back to the table.

'That's it! That house in my flashback has to be Emily's house! And that note!' He reached into his pocket and took out the crumpled piece of paper. 'I can leave a letter in her mailbox to meet me somewhere! And then she doesn't have to die!' He eagerly exited the library.

"Where are you going, man?" Vin asked.

"Gotta go! Meet you guys later!" Ethan searched the west side of the town, looking left and right for Emily's house. In a matter of hours, he found it, next to the abandoned parking lot. 'Emily's house…' he thought, looking it over. 'It looks empty. Does she live by herself?' He sighed and looked at the note again. '7:30, huh? I hope this works.' He grabbed the hollow pen and felt the time around him stop. "Gotta draw a hole in front of her mailbox." He drew a crud hole and reached inside. "What should I write? Stay home?" He shook his head. "No, no. that's just creepy." An idea popped up. "How about 'Meet me at my house'? That does sound kind of weird. Like I'm asking her out on a date." He left the weird note in her mailbox. "But it will get her attention, for sure. Ok, done!" He closed the hole, and time went back. He smiled and felt time change itself. 'Time for more flashbacks!' Everything went dark, and only one flashback came to him. It was the same the same one, with the boy and the girl. Then he was back in his room, and it was night-time on the same day. "What is up with that flashback? Is there something important with it?" He shrugged to himself. "Well, time to get ready for bed!" 'Another life saved!'


End file.
